DIY Mantras

November 20, 2012

I’m not a real crafty kind of gal. I wasn’t born with that gene most girls have which gives them the desire to knit, sew, or scrapbook. But, I recently got the opportunity to get a little crafty with a do-it-yourself (DIY) form of mantra creation, courtesy of Wade Imre Morissette, that I just have to share.

Indie-pop recording artist and yogi Wade (brother of Alanis) recently graced Cleveland’s Chagrin Yoga with a weekend of classes, and I was fortunate to get to attend two of them. In his Saturday morning class, Wade walked us through how to tap into our vijnanamaya kosha, otherwise known as our wisdom kosha or wisdom body. When we allow ourselves to quiet the mind and listen to our wisdom, it has some pretty cool stuff to tell us. The problem is most of us never take the time to listen to this wise inner teacher who really wants the best for us.

So, by gazing inward with silent meditation, we each tapped into our wisdom and created our own DIY mantra. Why use someone else’s mantra when you can create a personalized mantra, one relevant to your life, one that will ultimately be more profound? I gazed into my place of knowing (in my case it’s my heart, but for you it may be your navel or your gut), really listened, and since I’ve been somewhat neglectful in paying it a visit, my wisdom body was ready for a nice long chat. Believe me, I got several messages, but I listened to Wade and zeroed in on one word to be my mantra, the word that would be most relevant to my life, the one that captures what I’m longing for. Guess what my word was?

We then took this mantra and weaved it into our asana practice. As we breathed in we silently said, “I am,” and as we exhaled out we said, “our word.” What a powerful way to bring grounding and mindfulness into the practice by invoking our very own inspirational mantra into the breath. I am, LOVE!

To quote Wade, “Everything you need is inside you.”

I can’t believe I’ve been ignoring my wisdom body for so long. Wade explained that this inner wisdom is always there for us; it never takes a vacation. I kind of like the fact that my wisdom body is a type-A workaholic, and I’m going to start dipping into this wellspring of wisdom all the time. In fact, I’m digging my mantra so much that I’ve started to use it off my yoga mat as well.

This last week my entire playlist was dedicated to Wade with cuts from three of his albums, Strong as Diamonds, Sargam Scales of Music, and Maha Moho: The Great Delusion. Here’s one of my favorites, “I’m Alive.” Take a look/listen and see Wade busting out some kick-ass yoga poses and dance moves in this video produced by my good yogi friend Eric Tabora of Cleveland Groove!

If you’re looking for some great yoga class playlists cuts, I highly recommend:

I also took my classes through their very own DIY mantra creation and the very same breath flow that Wade taught. He taught us that by invoking this word, it’s setting a tone for your life and your day. We breathed our mantra in during each asana and into every cell of our body.

Want to get a little crafty today? Tap into your wisdom kosha, create your very own mantra, and then take it into your practice and own it!

This post fascinated me! How do you find one relevant word? I’m relatively new to meditation & I feel as if I tried to meditate on finding one word, it will make my mind start thinking & racing instead of being an intuitive process.

Jessica – Sorry I didn’t respond to this earlier. You just have to give it a try. Sit silently and don’t try to think about the word, just let it come to you. It may take a few times trying it. Please let me know how it works out for you!